Directorates & Support Structures
Directorates
The DoSE will maintain professional directorates, each of which is headed by a director. The director will advise the Permanent Secretary on technical and professional matters relating to the area of expertise and responsibility, which are:
- Planning and budgeting
- Human resource development
- Basic and secondary education
- Standards and quality assurance
- Science, information and communication technology
- Tertiary/higher education and research
- Regional Education Directorates
Support Structures
In order to effectively and efficiently manage subvented institutions at the level of tertiary and higher education, the following support structures (i-v) whose composition will continue to be determined by SOS for Education, will continue to operate with a great deal of autonomy and accountability while the PDCU (vi) will be restructured and integrated into the mainstream:
- National Training Authority
- Gambia College Council
- University Governing Council
- The Higher Education Observatory
- Advisory Council on Education
- Programme and Donor Co-ordination Unit
Planning and Budgeting Directorate
This directorate will have four integrated components: planning, budgeting, information and statistical analysis. Its primary function will continue to incorporate advice on and analysis of policy issues; collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of education statistics; analysis and evaluation of recurrent and development expenditures from both government and external sources. EMIS will be accorded a priority status in the quest for an effective tool in the rational planning of the education system. School mapping exercises will be mounted every year to ensure equitable distribution of educational facilities, institutions and resources.
Human Resource Directorate
The directorate will be responsible for human resource development and management. Its work will incorporate teacher posting assessment; teacher recruitment through Gambia College and the UTG, and co-ordination of all aspects of the department's training needs. With the development of the SPAS, all training and promotion will be determined by, among other things, SPAS scores. The department will continue to improve the system to enhance transparency and accountability.
Basic and Secondary Education Directorate
This directorate will be responsible for guiding and advising on policy directives within the context of basic and senior secondary education programming; co-ordinating and monitoring its effective functioning with programme linkages to include ECD, girls education, special education, Madrassa education, non-formal education, life skills education and for poverty reduction, school agriculture and food management. The directorate will establish a clear and effective management structure for increased autonomy of delegated management boards and school committees.
Science, Information and Communication Technology Directorate
This directorate will be responsible for advising on and co-ordinating all aspects relating to the design, programme development, training and capacity building in the area of science and ICT in schools and the sector as a whole. It will also be responsible for the further development and enhancement of science and technology education at all levels. In addition, the directorate will also co-ordinate EBS in support of teaching/learning processes both in and out of school setting.
Standards and Quality Assurance Directorate
This directorate will be responsible for monitoring compliance of the education policy and its associated acts and regulations in all institutions operating in The Gambia. It will maintain its primary function of monitoring and supervision of curriculum at all levels of the school system (including pre-schools and the Madrassa); learning achievement targets, teacher quality and performance, PTA involvement. It will popularise the use of study technologies to improve the performance of both teachers and students. The directorate will work closely with WAEC in the production and implementation of effective assessment, measurement and evaluation tools of the teaching and learning process in the school system.
Tertiary / Higher Education and Research Directorate
This directorate will be a new creation in response to the growing demands for expansion at this level. It will be responsible for the co-ordination of all aspects of tertiary and higher education programmes, facilities and resources. In promoting the culture of research, the directorate will co-ordinate the review of the strategic policy of all research activities to ensure that they are in accordance with the quality assurance systems that are to be set up by tertiary and higher education institutions. It will supervise the establishment of the higher education observatory for quality assurance.
Regional Education Directorates
Regional education directorates will now be headed regional directors. They will be engaged in education policy dialogue and take full responsibility for the planning and implementation of educational programmes in the regions. The directors at this level will, in the interim, be answerable to the Permanent Secretary pending the handover of the education service to the municipal/area councils. Given the anticipated responsibilities of the regional directorates in relation to the decentralisation process, the directorates will continue to be strengthened within the context of government’s decentralisation programme and will become absorbed into the local government structure at the divisional levels. The role of the DoSE Headquarters will become largely to monitor and evaluate policy implementation across the system in the regions for quality assurance.
National Training Authority
The National Training Authority (NTA) shall be the regulatory body responsible for the award of national vocational qualifications (NVQ) in association with education and training establishments and employers in The Gambia. The NTA will be strengthened and further developed to regulate, set standards and certify the qualifications of graduates of programmes of study in the technical and vocational training institutions at the post-secondary level. It will also serve as a catalyst in programme development and validating authority.
Gambia College Council
Apart from its traditional role of human resource management and mobilisation of resources, the council has mandate to direct, regulate the instruction and teaching within the college and the examinations held.
University Governing Council
This council shall be responsible for the management and administration of the whole of the revenue and property of the university. It shall have general control over the university and all its affairs, purposes and functions and all such other powers and duties as may be conferred upon it by Statute or Ordinance.
The Higher Education Observatory
The Observatory will be established to promote and maintain academic standards in education, learning and knowledge associated with the UTG by acting as an advisory body to the DoSE or any other national institution of higher education.
Advisory Council on Education
This council will be renamed Quality Assurance Council on Education with the task of ensuring that a high quality education service is delivered at all levels of the education system. The council will introduce standardised procedures and mechanisms to control the assured quality of such service.
Programme and Donor Co-ordination Unit (PDCU)
The Programme and Donor Co-ordination Unit will continue its role of donor mobilisation and co-ordination. The PDCU will continue to manage and co-ordinate the classroom construction programme through a partnership arrangement and undertake the overall contracts management for the procurement of goods, works and services, arrange for the disbursement and replenishment of funds for project-supported activities, co-ordination of programme reviews and supervision, facilitate training activities and technical assistance requirements under the external support programme. It will support the DoSE in the procurement of all goods and services but will be gradually phased out and integrated into a directorate within the DoSE with the very same functions by the end of the current master plan 2007. In recognition of the contribution of The Gambia’s development partners to the education enterprise, effective co-operation will continue to be promoted with the donor community in this regard. To this end, efforts will be intensified to mobilise resources for the sector through bi-lateral and multi-lateral grant financing.